This second plate that I turned on my Incredible Plate Day is one that, because of it’s shape, I refer to as a pie plate. It too is just over 7″ in diameter and 1″ high plus it comes complete with worm holes!

The opportunity that I have with all these blanks is to be able to play around a bit with different shapes. I am limited, of course, only by thickness. It’s also a great change to practice and hone my skills easily and inexpensively.

The lid is a bit less than a 1/4″ and the sloped side is less than that. The bottom is flat, again, like a pie plate. It is finished with the Beall Buff System.

Here are couple of more views:

Continue reading 'An Incredible Plate Day – Plate 2'

I’m not sure if you remember or not but last September I lucked into a fantastic windfall of wood. In it there were lots of blanks, predominantly Ash, that would make great plates. I have been puttering with them, a piece here and a piece there. Well, the other day I decided it was time to get serious, kick some butt and start turning some of it. (According to my wife, “You can’t get anymore wood until you turn what you already got!”) So, putting the pedal to the metal, or rather the gouge to the wood I turned four plates that day. Here’s the first one:

This plate is made of Ash and is approximately 7 1/2″ in diameter and 1 1/4″ high with a 1/4″ thickness. It has a bowl-like center which my wife is now using to hold a large candle. It was finished with the Beall Buff System.

Here are a couple of more photos:

Continue reading 'An Incredible Plate Day – Plate 1'

Here’s a hollow vessel that I recently finished that sports some burned arrow-like embellishments. The vessel is made out of Maple and is about 5 1/2″ tall, 3 1/2″ at it’s widest and 2 1/2″ at it’s base. It was finished with the Beall Buff System.

The burned rings were done using wire on the lathe and the ‘arrows’ were made freehand using a skew-shaped tip on my burner.

Although I’m not completely satisfied with the freehand burning of the long sides of the arrows I am happy with it for this first exercise. It will take a bit more practice to ensure an even burn. Also, I believe a thicker tip will eliminate my attempts to make a thicker, darker line. Doing so gave rise to some irregularities.

Here’s a closer look at the pyrography:

Continue reading 'Hollow Vessel With Burned Arrows'

Here’s a couple of small turned boxes made of Cherry. They are approximately 1 3/4″ round and the taller one is 2 1/4″ tall and the smaller one is only 1″ tall. Both are finished with just a bit of beeswax.

The sides of the larger box are slightly concaved while the lid is convexed with a couple of decorative tiers. The smaller box is straight sided with a slightly concaved lid.

Like the small boxes of Ash I did back in April these turned Cherry boxes take no time at all and are fun to turn.

Here’s a photo of them with the lids off:

Continue reading 'A Couple Of Small Cherry Boxes'